I knew it. Cheesy is the new edgy!
(email me reminding me how to post on that sidebar.)
Doesn't that devolution of research occur in the Foundation series?
Yep, it was in Asimov's classic Foundation series.
I'm facing a similar issue for a history/social science essay I'm writing. I've had to do plenty of research via primary & secondary resources. . .and part of me asks, why go through the redundant research when someone else has proved a point that I need for my essay. Fortunately or unfortunately, however, I have yet to find anyone who has proven a point I need. . ..